Motivation
It is no secret that we are pushing the environment to the limit, to a point where we can see The Death Horizon, an imaginary point in future time where we will not be able to recover from abusing our planetary spaceship. This crisis has not occurred to us, it is the result of what we have and are still doing to ourselves - irresponsibly. In addition, we have neglected to pioneer mental technology and social wisdom with the same vigor that produces technological toys and tools, so our physical achievements greatly exceed our ability to manage them and ourselves. The most significant factor stressing the biosphere in the number of people living in it. Population is increasing logarithmically, exceeding infra structure capacity and natural resources, so we cannot survive and maintain any significant quality of life in THIS manner much longer. We are living a slow death that is hard to comprehend on a global basis, but calls us to question our integrity and adopt new concepts in social management. Our survival depends on replacing those rigid win/lose attitudes with win/win behavior that is flexible and sensitive to harmonious co-existence with all things. Even if we hold population growth to zero percent immediately, all our consumables must become renewable, and recyclable, just to maintain global society "as is," without making our challenge any tougher. Our problems will never be solved if we continue making choices unconsciously - without regard for the consequences. Motivation comes with the realization that our very survival depends on changing the predominant ways of thinking and doing things. This living generation must begin taking responsibility for it's custody and preservation of the human legacy now. We need to move beyond the selfishness which breeds failure and seek the consciousness of sustainable success.

A Shift In Consciousness
Our awareness is changing out of necessity to address our true spiritual nature, what we really require to prosper, and the search for ultimate truth. If one is exposed only to commercial media for information, things generally look quite bleak. However, with a little effort looking in the right places, there is plenty of evidence to confirm the modest, but substantial, number of organizations and individuals who are taking positive actions toward a sustainable future. Many authors are writing about improving their professional industries, without connecting them under the umbrella of Conscious Evolution, yet their messages ring true and consciousness is being raised. One common, factual observation that emerges from higher consciousness, embraces the inexorable relationship between all creatures and everything in the universe. Those relationships may be complex, but humankind will never succeed unless we are united in spirit as equals to all other life. We cannot afford to continue thinking we are better, or that we have the right to take more than we absolutely need. "Needs" are quite different than "desires" and we have yet to provide any consistently healthy standard of living for all people. How can gluttons be justified in the same breath with the starving? As we are finding out, many methods and beliefs of the past were, and are not, formulas for success. New concepts and vocabulary are needed to facilitate our maturation into "Universal Humans."

Conscious Evolutionists Past & Present
Advocates for the principles of Conscious Evolution have been writing and speaking out for thousands of years. From Confucius to Jeffrey Wygand, individuals have been standing firmly on their conviction to do the "right thing," mostly because it is common sense to success. Our path has been forever changed in positive direction due to the likes of: Socrates, Gallileo, Florence Nightingale, Margaret Sanger, Mother Theresa, Gandhi, J Robert Atkinson, Jonas Salk, John F Kennedy, Martin Luther King Junior, Carl Sagan, Rosa Parks, Nelson Mandela, and Superman. They all wanted to influence us toward better living, often against public sentiment and personal threat. It is also appropriate to mention the vast number of artists who have produced a plethora of songs, movies, poems and books that preach love - not war. Although their consciousness has not changed our penchant for violence in 2000 years, they cause us to reflect on what we are doing and turn our hearts in the right direction.

Stuck In Crisis Mode
We have known what a "mistake" is ever since suffering the after affects of a poor decision. As time passes our recognition of past mistakes is quite accurate, but this learning has not stopped us from making the same mistakes repeatedly. What does that signal? We operate from crisis to crisis of our design, not anticipating or caring about the consequences, nor changing our behavior to avoid negotiating situations that beg for immediate short-term action. In critical emergencies the importance of long-term vision is reduced, or ignored, by placing too much emphasis on the immediate crisis situation. This paradigm keeps us on the brink of disaster, is mostly destructive, fosters a regular state of anxiety and generally taxes us at a higher premium than if we moved forward with responsible intelligence in the first place. This a pattern worth breaking. Seeking consciousness to the larger picture, outside limited selfish concerns, will automatically enable us to make a better quality of choices in all things. We are partners in life, not controllers. Sharing goals, investment and responsibility, will reap equitable results and generate peaceful fulfillment within any group of constituents.

Economic Pressure to Conform
The greatest influence determining the majority of our decisions are economic in nature. It is the result of combining the interests of the media with advertisers, to generate as much financial gain as possible without regard to the consequences of their actions. Our future is currently being governed by the pursuit of money in virtually every way. It is one of those self destructive themes that keeps us off balance and off course. The popular business ethic is backwards and should read: Money is not the purpose of endeavor - wealth is the result of valuable service or manufacture of integrity. With profit as the predominant incentive to action, we have come to create an increasingly faster growth rate out of fever-pitched competition. It is a 'rat race.' I like to race now and then, but not all day every day! I don't want to act or look like a rat either. Anyone who wants to compete in the business arena is usually driven to conform to the current rules of the game. There are very few restrictions on corporate behavior, and the integrity of many corporate captains does not consider social responsibility. The concept of Mass consumption, mass production, mass gluttony, mass anything = mass destruction. Nature does not operate that way, but lives on through diversity, so we must mimic her model of economy.

Social Pressure to Conform
If it's cool and I endorse it, then I AM cool! The natural desire to be accepted by a group is not the problem. Conforming to the status quo by compromising ethical responsibility is the problem. Bigotry for those who are not identical, or familiar to our taste must end. It happens in many ways, both subtle and overt, yet prejudice in any form is folly, blind to benefit of the unknown, and anathema to any sense of community. Labels are a lazy way to remember information and a source for blind prejudice. They are often applied wrongly, limited by our understanding and insensitive to the fact that every class of things has great diversity within it. I do not write with bias against any group of people, but with the premise that everyone is unique, possessing a special set of talents so varied, that they have their own category, deserving respect and investigation like anything else experienced for the first time. Applying pressure in our social relationships for the sake of traditional conformity is not accepting or loving. Life produces many variations on a theme just as our humanity is our similarity, however society has an obligation to nurture and care for all it's members. We cannot proceed in good faith without addressing the needs of the oppressed; the starving; the corrupt; the criminal; the infirm; the ignorant; the selfish; the powerful; the weak; the shunned; the rich and the exploited! Just as any nonproductive citizen becomes a universal tax, every productive person becomes an asset to us all. Social integrity depends on individual integrity. The welfare of the individual and our collective are always joined in considerations of equal and mutual importance. The needs of the one are the needs of the many!

Political Pressure to Conform
Is there any government on Earth that is not corrupt? I'm still looking. "Power corrupts absolutely." This type of corruption takes place when people entering the political arena must conform to the local political system and compromise their ethics in hopes of making a change to that same system. This tall expectation is usually unmet by accepting current trends in behavior that do not conform to the principle declarations upon which a nation is founded. Every method of government is representative of it's citizens behavior and in many instances there is a conformity to apathy, or to a feeling of futility. Still, the citizen has the same obligation and responsibility to the nation's health as his representative. Most governments are far too exclusive to the citizenry, where control of the political system is not dependent on approval of the public, or responsive to it's needs. What are people doing to change this? It is a great responsibility, an honor and a privilege to serve one's country, and that position should always be rendered without conflict of personal gain. In the United States the two parties of power have evolved into very similar groups that are hard to distinguish in principle or tactic. They have conformed to employ advertising and public relation techniques that promise much and deliver little on any consideration. There is also conformity in the politics of international affairs, that focus more on placing blame, than looking for solutions. Just as each person has a responsibility to a nation, each country is a responsible member of The Global Nation. Conformity should show allegiance to those sacred ethics which are good for all people and maintain freedom for the expression of diversity.

Conformity
Conformity is the opposite of diversity and we know diversity is a natural asset to strength, endurance and success in general. Diversity is America's foremost distinction to national accomplishment and the same principle that can enable humanity to even greater heights. Conformity to universally applied philosophy is a good thing, but we must cherish the subtle differences between each living soul. JFK said, "Conformity is the slayer of freedom." Indeed, freedom does diminish when economic, social or political conformity has no tolerance for variety and abuses those who think differently.

Ultimate Truth
On occasion we may have asked ourselves the following questions: How do I know something for sure? What can I count on? What is the meaning of life? Where can I find the answer to these questions? These might seem like impossible questions, however, the only truth that matters must apply and work in the real universe. Since we are the cosmos come to consciousness, viable and original truth can only come from the physical and metaphysical nature of the universe. I want to stress the importance of ultimate truths, so it is possible to remove subjective opinion from conflict over issues of religion, ethnicity, politics, sex, age, education, and sustainable living practices. All people can be purposefully united with the following truthful and most fundamental definitions.

What is the Universe?
The Universe is the largest identifiable unit we can describe, and by definition: a container for everything that exists. Even if it changes radically from its current form, it is highly probable all the energy and matter in it will always be in some tangible balance. The entire cosmos is alive! From the delicate wings of a butterfly to the immense power of a sun, everything is going through various states of change constantly, recycling energy into matter and transforming matter into energy. The constituent parts of this organism make it a living thing just as an atom is living, just as we are things living in it. The Universe is our mother god, the source of our birth and our extended planetary home. It is only through the consistency of her performance that we are permitted this fragile opportunity "to be" nurtured as a species. We will always be dependent on her Love for our well being, and there is nothing more essential to forming a responsible philosophy than this elementary truth. The universe has one indispensable and primary quality from which all others are derived and that is - Love. From Love comes Freedom and opportunity for life everywhere with equal potential. We can define Freedom as the ability to improvise life infinitely within the boundary of Love. Outside of Love, nothing can survive for long. Natural Freedom and Love exist simultaneously, co-dependently, with the result being performed consistently to embody the third essential quality of the universe - Trust. Love, Freedom and Trust are the holy trinity. Regardless of trivial scientific explanation they are Universal Glue that makes everything possible. To ignore this, defy it, or deny it, is to reject our mother while feeding through the umbilical.

What is Love?
In the most basic form, Love describes the attraction between all things. In personal relationships it describes a spiritual magnetism, where we are drawn together naturally, instinctively and emotionally to care. As demonstrated in the nuclear attraction of oppositely charged particles, Love is the metaphysical theme of god, connecting the astonishing diversity of life everywhere. The power of Love is demonstrated by the observation that the Universe does not operate on the basis of hate, otherwise we would see evidence that the Universe is destroying itself without providing Freedom for the opportunity of life. Love is the food and method of peaceful human coexistence by default. Love is not an option to success. Love is our state of existence, the first and only understanding of success.

What is Freedom?
Freedom is the ability to improvise life infinitely within the boundary of Love. We are all born Free, vested with Freedom of Will and Freedom of Choice, which cannot be destroyed or taken from us, even under the most oppressive circumstances. When we abuse freedom it is harmful to everything else by reducing the amount of freedom available. Laws usually are made to curb the loss of freedom, but a law is a reduction of liberty in itself. In his documentary film, Ken Burns cites Jazz as an embodiment of Freedom, where one can play anything, as long as it is sensitive to what the other 'cats' are playing and does not interfere with their Freedom of expression. We must all protect the inalienable right to Freedom by exercising it responsibly - in concert with everything else. We have the Freedom to be responsible, or irresponsible, to ourselves and each other.

What is Responsibility?
The quality of being Trustworthy for mental, moral and legal behavior. In general terms; always choosing what is obviously right over what is essentially wrong, with respect for Freedom and the intention of maintaining a natural social order of peace. Responsible actions are a demonstration of Love, where opposing selfish actions are always ir-Responsible to health and Freedom. The lengths we will go to avoid responsibility are really quite embarrassing. From Heads-of-State to the person who stole my sandals off the beach, stealing, making excuses and lying have become modern art forms executed with malice of forethought. Any six-year-old will tell you this type of behavior is 'bad', or 'not good.' I am not writing about making a mistake in judgment. I cite adult actions that are unethical and immoral, entirely preventative to humanity's success, undermining Trust, Freedom and Love we all thrive on.

What is Peace?
The Responsible use of Freedom. Any misuse or abuse of Freedom is an un-Peaceful act that takes Freedom away from others. Fighting, arguing, or war on any level are not the way to Peace - Peace is the way! Peace is made and maintained through Loving sensitivity and respect for everything in the Universe. We will have Peace on Earth when citizens and their nations decide to have it, when we decide not to participate in war or argument, when we fully respect the gift of life. Let us not forget the tradeoff for investing in war. Let us not forget the potential benefits of investing in peace. Citizens must empower their Nations with abundant resources to wage peace through their participation. We should employ the lovesense of mutual interest and decide that we will not support or participate in any selfish/aggressive policy, nor be fooled into supporting activities that make fighting a war possible. We can certainly afford to transcend the primitive mind and try another approach for the next two-thousand years.

What is the Meaning of Life?
The first meaning of human life is to stay alive - that is to sustain life with food, water, heat and shelter, to live on through sexual reproduction and manage our waste products. This is a fixed set of logistical tasks in which we will always be engaged. The second aspect of life is awareness that one is a single living component in a larger living organism that created and sustains us, which also defines our spiritual connection with all things in the form of Love. A third facet of existence gives us consciousness to see that our collective behavior is influencing evolution on Earth and into the extended Universe. Reverence for our natural position in this natural Universe, dictates that we do not violate the natural order of living things for the preservation of our species because ultimately - we cannot!

What is Lovesense?
Although there are other translations of Confucius' golden rule, I was taught; "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." This concept assumes we Love ourselves. It is based first on the virtue of inner Love, before inner Love can be directed outward. We might expand the saying to include reverence for nature: Treat the Earth and others as you would treat yourself, or better yet; Treat the Universe as you want to be treated. This is the only advise we need to direct our actions benevolently in any situation - in a word - Lovesense. Lovesense is opposite of nonsense. This is it! It is that simple! Lovesense is a universal philosophy characterized by a knowledgeable understanding of the Meaning of Life and the Universal gifts of Love, Trust and Freedom that come with it. Lovesense enables us all to live in global unity, morally, philosophically, spiritually, with unimaginable prosperity and bliss.

Your Participation
Democracy has emerged as the government of choice, yet it cannot function without the participation of all it's members. It has enormous potential when it is not corrupted by forces alien to the principles of its definition. In a democracy the ship is steered from the bottom up - not as it is now - from the top down. We cannot realistically expect leaders to supply all the answers and there is no sense waiting for solutions that will only blossom in the synergy of group collaboration. Pulling together is the only way to share responsibility and the rewards. Apathy, neutrality and negativity never sowed, or reaped, a grain of wheat. One cannot belong to something if one does not participate in it. If you're not motivated by love for yourself, or the planet, then find it in your love for someone else, because the human weakness to self indulgence will usually win out over better judgment. One should be trying to do the right and best thing all the time, at home, at work, and in social leadership. If you are ever in doubt about what is the "right" thing to do, always make the loving choice and you'll never ever go wrong. As a team of humans our goal is to become a graceful interstellar society. In order to achieve that, we must live by the same ethics, morals and basic philosophy about the cosmos and our place in it. That may sound like an impossible dream, but we are all obligated to be advocates of Love, Trust and Freedom in order to succeed. To look the other way, or rest that responsibility on others is irresponsible, and we are all responsible whether we take that responsibility seriously or not. This statement indicates that the measure of our success is directly proportionate to the integrity of our behavior on a personal level, as we are collectively responsible in the end.

Success
Discrimination is Success! It is the process of deciding between right and wrong, between what works and what doesn't, choosing based on an ethical philosophy. Therefore, we need to adopt Lovesense as a common creed. Let us always make loving decisions and carry a loving ethic. We are still babies in the evolutionary process. Some of our thinking is inherently flawed because we do not know it all. Beside the things we think we know, the formula for success must include enough humility to plan for the unknown. If we appreciate the evolutionary process, then we should be willing to entertain new ideas and update our policies quickly without playing foolish games. What ever happens to be the latest and the greatest version, it may not necessarily be the best, nor will it automatically stand the test of time. Refining, adapting and correcting our methods and beliefs for a loving result is the process of successful evolution over time. We cannot rely on the efforts and teaching of our foreparents to be flawless, so we must question our mental programs and form new beliefs in the present, which are relevant making a success in the future. This is our evolutionary path and every passing day gives the benefit of more experience to make better decisions, yet this is relevant only if we desire to make a success. The path of personal and social success is not wide, nor is it complicated, but always remains within the boundary of Love. We must become accountable for our mistakes and break the cycles of irresponsibility that compromise god given freedom - for the glory of achievement to some, has come at great expense to others. We cannot run the game where we make it possible to have losers. Positive actions are the only thing that matter. Just talking about our dreams and fears will not bring success. It requires specific action to influence a specific positive result. Be a participant for success. We will all bail a leaky boat without arguing, so it makes sense to maintain the ship with the basic understanding that an open discourse is in everyone's best interest. The goal is not to poke holes in the hull, or steer into dangerous waters during our journey together. Let us strive to make healthy choices in our daily lives.

– – Mark Smollin